Going through Hell

Robert-Louis Abrahamson is Emeritus Professor in the European Division of the University of Maryland. He was raised in Philadelphia and attended Amherst College, the University of Edinburgh and Rutgers University before settling in England in 1980. He has lectured and given talks on Dante over several decades, including 102 podcasts on The Divine Comedy and many episodes of his radio show Evening under Lamplight (Cambridge Radio) discussing the Inferno.

• PrefaceIntroductionCanto 1Canto 2Canto 3Canto 4Canto 5Canto 6Canto 7Canto 8Canto 9Canto 10 Canto 11Canto 12Canto 13Canto 14Canto 15Canto 16Canto 17Canto 18 Canto 19 Canto 20Canto 21 Canto 22Canto 23Canto 24 Canto 25Canto 26Canto 27Canto 28Canto 29Canto 30Canto 31Canto 32 Canto 33

For the reader who is neither a medievalist, nor a theologian, Going through Hell offers an engaging companion to reading Dante's great poem. In his book, Robert Louis Abrahamson draws on a lifetime of study to show how Dante's often strange medieval world and no less strange theological assumptions can still reveal astonishing insights into our own postmodern world and confront us with uncomfortable but compelling truths about what it is to be human and what we should most value in our lives. - George Pattison, retired Professor of Divinity, University of GlasgowI welcome this fresh and refreshing guide book, helping us to accompany Dante on the first part of his vital pilgrimage. But perhaps it would be better to say, 'helping Dante to accompany us.' The great strength of this book is the way at every turn Robert-Louis Abrahamson helps us to see where we fit in, to learn what each stage of the pilgrimage has to tach us about ourselves, as he says at the outset: 'This is not just Dante's journey but an image of the way the life of each of us takes the form of a journey; Dante is Everyman.' Just as Virgil arrives in the nick of time as Dante's guide, so this helpful book comes to the aid of all those who want to make this essential pilgrimage. - Malcolm Guite, Life Fellow of Girton College, CambridgeI have taught medieval poetry for many years, and I have never read a more knowledgeable and readable introduction to Dante's poem. As a valuable bonus, Abrahamson's insightful commentary connects the sins and sinners encountered in the poem with their examples in our modern life. As we read we hear the voice of a wise and friendly guide who treats his audience as equals--an unusual pleasure indeed. - Howell Chickering, Emeritus Professor of Medieval Languages and Literature, Amherst College